William J. Murphy
Professor of Law
Chair, Commerce & Technology Graduate Programs
- BA, Denison University
- JD, Dickinson School of Law
- MBA, Harvard Graduate School of Business
- DBA, Harvard Graduate School of Business
- bmurphy@piercelaw.edu
- (603) 513-5148
- Courses: Antitrust Law, Business Associations, e-Commerce Law, Valuation and the Law, Comparative e-Commerce Law
- Committees: Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP), Budget
- Scholarship
Professor Murphy has extensive experience in the legal, business, and academic fields. A former trial attorney for the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., and a senior trial consultant to the FTC Regional Office in Boston, Professor Murphy received the Chairman's Commendation for Meritorious Service "for outstanding trial advocacy in complex antitrust matters." His business ventures include serving as co-founder of two companies ♦ one developing educational software, and the other providing international chemical and pharmaceutical companies with clinical trials management and regulatory licensing services. Professor Murphy has served as a member of the Board of Directors for CCTV, a nonprofit public access television station, where he worked on educational television programming. He was a partner in a Concord law firm specializing in technology-based business law and intellectual property.
Professor Murphy has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in Management, Business Ethics, and Business Law at Harvard in the Extension and the Radcliffe Seminars Programs and at the University of Massachusetts. His doctoral research focused on the legal and management difficulties of high-technology joint ventures. Professor Murphy is the author of R&D Cooperation Among Marketplace Competitors (Quorum Press, 1990). He is a member of the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts Bars. Professor Murphy also spent a summer studying international law at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
"The best lawyers have interests outside the law that give them a full and balanced lifestyle. One of the strengths of Pierce Law is that this 'human' approach to the practice of law is actively encouraged."
Professor Murphy is an avid water-skier and can often be found, as late as October, water-skiing on the Merrimack River with various adventuresome Law Center students and graduates. When the river finally freezes over, Professor Murphy enjoys working on animated cartoons (he was the cartoonist for the Harbus News at the Harvard Business School).
